Before Knives Out, this overlooked neo-noir gem launched Rian Johnson’s directorial journey

Long before Rian Johnson's Benoit Blanc made headlines, a high-school guy with a bruised lip and an active detective's brain solved a murder mystery in a setting as gloomy as any Bogart film. The film wasn't a blockbuster. It was not made by an A-list celebrity or had a huge budget. Even then, the film was all about the twist, the wit, and sheer will to tell a story, which was more than enough to turn its young director into a cult figure.

What's the movie?

Brick.

A mystery in a High School hallway

Released in 2005, Brick was the groundbreaking debut feature film of director Rian Johnson. An amalgamation of two dissimilar genres: classic film noir and high school drama, Brick was a low-budget indie thriller that unexpectedly ended up becoming a cult favorite.

Apart from the storyline, the thing that sets Brick apart is definitely the way it was executed. With fast-paced, stylized dialogues that are a distinct riff on The Maltese Falcon, an adaptation of Double Indemnity, and a world of mystery, violence, and emotional intensity, this movie is like reading a high school yearbook consisting of characters inspired by Raymond Chandler's pen.

More than a clever genre mash-up

The movie, despite the obvious references to film noir through its obscure scenes and tough-talking style, doesn't come across as purely derivative. Johnson did not set out to simply imitate the genre; he re-imagined it.

The kids' speech sounds a bit like poetry. Schoolyard punch-ups are acceptable. The characters are emotionally wounded but act like everything is cool. And, Brick is a very human character.

The film is not a nod to the audience or an attempt to be sarcastic. The strength of the film lies in its sincere storytelling. Brendan's grief, guilt, and the relentless search for the absolute truth are the things that really feel real. The audience does not participate in ridiculing the idea but is emotionally engaged because of it.

A glimpse at a director’s DNA

Watching the movie Brick now is like looking at Rian Johnson's entire career laid out in front of you. The signs are right there—his careful crafting, the change of genres, the razor-sharp dialogue, and the sweet spot for classic storytelling — are the backbone of the film.

It's the same building blocks of his later works: the time-traveling crime drama Looper, the boundaries-breaking Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the whodunit romp Knives Out, and the mystery TV series Poker Face.

Johnson's knack for making the known look new but keeping it relatable is what turns Brick into an evergreen film, not only for him but for modern American cinema as well.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s breakthrough and a neo-noir legacy

Before Joseph Gordon-Levitt became a Hollywood "It Boy", he had to shed his sitcom image, and, boy, did he have to prove it in the noirish Brick. As Brendan, he’s wounded but ferocious, contemplative but reckless. It’s a star-making performance that’s also a match for Johnson’s ambitious direction, beat for beat.

And though Brick wasn’t a box office behemoth, its legacy has only swelled over time. Film students, critics, and genre fans regard it now as a cult classic, a testament to how audacious personal filmmaking can make an indelible scar, even when it lacks the studio support of a blockbuster.

The film that lit the fuse

Without Brick, there is no Knives Out. No Glass Onion. No “Ozymandias” episode of Breaking Bad, one of the most acclaimed hours in television history. It all started with this scrappy, genre-bending gem — a film that razed expectations, played things straight, and kicked open the door for a filmmaker who would change the game.

So if you enjoy big-city mysteries that are as incisive as they are twisty, or dialogue you won’t forget the way you forget most movie dialogue, or directors who break all the rules just so they can turn around and write better ones, do yourself a favor and return to where it all began — to Brick.